A part-time student graduated Summa Cum Laude on Tuesday evening despite juggling his studies and a permanent job and undergoing two operations this year.

Marco Moolman, 25, is ecstatic about obtaining his ND: Public Management Summa Cum Laude and so is his family.

Marco achieved a 90% aggregate in 24 subjects over three years of study. 

He says he only realised halfway through this year that he was heading towards a Summa Cum Laude with his academic excellence after a classmate alerted him to the fact. This realisation propelled him to pursue this milestone even more.

He attributes his success to pure sacrifice which manifested itself in sleepless nights and lots of hard work. He adds that without the lecturers’ continued support he could not have achieved his success. “I had to stay focused, they say focus on one course until you are successful,” says the tenacious Marco.

The former Premier’s Advancement of Youth Programme intern adds that he derived his enthusiasm for his studies from enjoying the subjects offered which saw him giving 100% attendance in class. “I was constantly engaging all my lecturers and the environment was conducive for success.”

“I am of the opinion that CPUT should serve real people’s needs and I can indeed confirm that this was indeed the case, as I am living proof – being a young working student.”

He says that his father, Stiaan, is a source of his passion and drive for his studies. “He has been my rock and everything, I did it for him.”

One of the motives for his academic success is to climb the corporate ladder in his job as a Records Management and Registry Clerk of the Western Cape Liquor Authority, a job he has been doing for the last four years.

This year was particularly challenging for Marco as he had two operations and yet he maintained his 80% to 90% average of the past three years.

“The extraordinary part of Marco’s story is his that he truly was a unique brilliant hardworking student who did not allow any lecturer to proceed with a lecture unless he completely understood,” says lecturer Althea Whitaker.

“Marco was the quizzical student in the class. He took copious notes as you spoke. He would message and ask if he did not make sense of a lecture.”

Written by Kwanele Butana

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

A student in the Department of Information Technology is one of the top achievers in the Huawei ICT Competition 2022-2023 National Finals.

Edwin Taruvinga was the top achiever in the Cloud Computing Track and will be awarded for this achievement at a ceremony in Johannesburg on 15 March.

“It’s an amazing feeling to know that hard work and perseverance can get you far. That’s how I feel about being the first place Cloud computing track national finalist of the Huawei ICT competition 2022-2023. I also thank God for putting me in a position which allowed my talent to grow and be recognised to this extent,” said Edwin, who is studying Advance Communication in Networks.

He said the competition was introduced to him by a Huawei representative at an online Roadshow.

“I prepared for the competition by simply studying the material I found on the Huawei Talent Platform website. My hard work was noticed by Huawei and I was offered an internship which [I] needed to continue doing my best at the competition with more cloud computing experience through the work of being an intern,” Edwin added.

Lecturer Waldon Hendricks, administrator and instructor at CPUT’s Huawei ICT Academy said it's been almost three years since CPUT got an award for the Huawei ICT competition regional finals, and Edwin’s performance was another milestone to add to the achievements in the IT Department Communication Networks stream.

“Our students are doing us proud, and we appreciate the hard work and dedication,” he said.

The Huawei ICT Competition is a competitive ICT event developed by Huawei for global university and college students to promote the healthy development of the ICT talent ecosystem and support the integration of industry and education.

Written by Ilse Fredericks
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.